ArticleBrain stimulation
Combining reward and M1 transcranial direct current stimulation enhances the retention of newly learnt sensorimotor mappings.
Article in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Towards optimized methodological parameters for maximizing the behavioral effects of transcranial direct current stimulation.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Different Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Targets for Enhancing Motor Learning: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.Neural plasticity · 2026Trial
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease Patients in the Off State: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial Examining the Effects on Pain With and Without the Influence of Dopaminergic Medication.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Trial
- Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills.Nature human behaviour · 2024Trial
- Behaviourally driven closed-loop beta-tACS enhances beta activity and motor behaviour.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Noninvasive Stimulation of Contralateral Primary Motor Cortex Reduces the Amount of Skill Generalization to the Untrained Arm: Primary Motor Cortex and Intermanual Skill Generalization.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Noninvasive brain stimulation and athletic performance: a critical narrative review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Article
- Reward signals in the motor cortex: from biology to neurotechnology.Nature communications · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) during a Virtual Reality Task in Women with Fibromyalgia-A Randomized Clinical Study.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Dopamine Increases Accuracy and Lengthens Deliberation Time in Explicit Motor Skill Learning.eNeuro · 2024Article
- Reinforcement feedback impairs locomotor adaptation and retention.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Article
- Transcranial direct current stimulation to facilitate neurofunctional rehabilitation in children with autism spectrum disorder: a protocol for a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind clinical trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Could Modulate Cortical Excitability and the Central Cholinergic System in Akinetic Rigid-Type Parkinson's Disease: Pilot Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Feasibility of combining functional near-infrared spectroscopy with electroencephalography to identify chronic stroke responders to cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation-a computational modeling and portable neuroimaging methodological study.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2021Article
- Cortical preparatory activity during motor learning reflects visuomotor retention deficits after punishment feedback.Experimental brain research · 2021Article
- The cost of correcting for error during sensorimotor adaptation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Multiple Motor Learning Processes in Humans: Defining Their Neurophysiological Bases.The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry · 2021Review
- Effect of Combined Therapy of Virtual Reality and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Children and Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy: A Study Protocol for a Triple-Blinded Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- Punishment Feedback Impairs Memory and Changes Cortical Feedback-Related Potentials During Motor Learning.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundReward-based feedback given during motor learning has been shown to improve the retention of the behaviour being acquired. Interestingly, applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during learning over the primary motor cortex (M1), an area associated with motor retention, also results in enhanced retention of the newly formed motor memories. However, it remains unknown whether combining these distinct interventions result in an additive benefit of motor retention.
methodsWe investigated whether combining both interventions while participants learned to account for a visuomotor transformation results in enhanced motor retention (total n = 56; each group n = 14). To determine whether these interventions share common physiological mechanisms underpinning learning, we assessed motor cortical excitability and inhibition (i.e. SICI) on a hand muscle before and after all participants learned the visuomotor rotation using their entire arm and hand.
resultsWe found that both the Reward-Stim (i.e. reward + tDCS) and Reward-Sham (i.e. reward-only) groups had increased retention at the beginning of the retention phase, indicating an immediate effect of reward on behaviour. However, each intervention on their own did not enhance retention when compared to sham, but rather, only the combination of both reward and tDCS demonstrated prolonged retention. We also found that only the Reward-Stim group had a significant reduction in SICI after exposure to the perturbation.
conclusionsWe show that combining both interventions are additive in providing stronger retention of motor adaptation. These results indicate that the reliability and validity of using tDCS within a clinical context may depend on the type of feedback individuals receive when learning a new motor pattern.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.